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Disarming Charm
|creator=Elizabeth Smudgling or Merlin (possibly) }} The Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) is a charm that forces whatever an opponent is holding to fly out of their hand. It is common to see this spell used in duels to make an opponent lose their wand. History It is not known precisely who created the Disarming Charm. Some wizarding historians claim that it may have been invented by Merlin himself, others claim that its first widespread use was in Madagascar in the 11th century. Even if any of this is true, the fact remains that it was not very popular until 1379, when Elizabeth Smudgling — the most likely inventor, in the opinion of Miranda Goshawk — used it in a duelling contest in Dartmoor. (See this video) (00:20 - 15:20) The Disarming Charm became Harry Potter's signature spell, and it notably caused the death of Lord Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts by rebounding his Killing Curse because the Elder Wand recognised Harry as its master through the spell connection, and thus strengthened the Disarming Charm to the point that Voldemort's Killing Curse backfired on himself. Effects The Disarming Charm causes whatever an opponent is holding at the time, usually a wand, to fly high out of their hand. A single Disarming Charm can disarm multiple opponents if they are all in close proximity to one another. Multiple or exceptionally powerful Disarming Charms are even able to send a target flying, sometimes to the extent of knocking them unconscious. Known uses Known practitioners ElizabethSmudgling.png|Elizabeth Smudgling Yusuf Kama.jpeg|Yusuf Kama Flitwickarmourbattle.png|Filius Flitwick 1174922 1359538274196 full.jpg|James Potter I Albus Dumbledore (HBP promo) 3.jpg|Albus Dumbledore Mcgonagall.jpg|Minerva McGonagall Pomona_Spraaawwwtt_wand.jpg|Pomona Sprout CedricDiggoryProfile.png|Cedric Diggory Severus Snape.jpg|Severus Snape Lord_Voldemort_Tom_Marvolo_Riddle_Original_Appearance.jpg|Tom Riddle PromoHP7 Harry Potter.jpg|Harry Potter Hermionedhface.jpg|Hermione Granger Ron Weasley.jpg|Ronald Weasley Fred HS TDH promo.jpg|Fred Weasley DH promo front closeup George Weasley.jpg|George Weasley Ginny Weasley hbp promo.jpg|Ginevra Weasley Sirius Black profile.jpg|Sirius Black Remus Lupin Deathly Hallows promo image.jpg|Remus Lupin Draco Malfoy TDH.png|Draco Malfoy Harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallowspart-2.jpg|Neville Longbottom Albus Potter (HPCC).png|Albus Potter Diego Caplan.jpg|Diego Caplan JacobSiblingGeneric.png|Jacob's sibling Etymology Latin expellere (ex = out, pellere = to drive), meaning "to drive out" and "arma" meaning "weapon". Expelliarmus actually means 'to drive out the weapon'. Behind the scenes *This is the signature spell of Harry Potter. *In the later films, it is only when a witch or wizard is defending themselves from the Killing Curse When the spell appears scarlet. When not locked in combat, it manifests as a bluish- white ball or flash of light, while in the second film, it appears as a golden fiery ring. The spell will either connect with the target's hand and force the wand out of their hand or will blast them off their feet, sometimes unconscious. *When Dumbledore used this on Snape in Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale, it appeared as white light similar to lightning, and hence was probably a variation of it rather than the spell itself, or else an entirely different disarming spell. *In and , the Disarming Charm works instead as the Shield Charm, rebounding an opponent's spells upon them. This is actually also the describing of the spell in the The Standard Book of Spells series. This was mainly due to the lack of being able to disarm in past video games, although this cannot be considered canon as the spell does not work this way in the Harry Potter universe. **However, the spell is depicted correctly in , , , , though the GBC version of the Chamber of Secrets game also follows this scheme. **Also in the console version of the second game, it's possible to catch and deflect spells not only cast by prefects in the PS2 version, but it's also possible to do so on one's own backfired spell. This only works on Flipendo and Incendio however, as the other projectile spells will pass through. In the case of the former, it moves rather fast so tight timing to activate the charm is needed. *The Disarming Charm is referenced on Doctor Who, when Shakespeare uses it to conclude a formula used to banish the villains from earth. The Doctor (played by David Tennant) smiles after the villains are beaten and says: "Good old J.K.", referencing the author of the ''Harry Potter ''series. *As seen in , it is possible to disarm and take ownership of one's wand without using the spell, as demonstrated by Harry, who forcefully disarmed Malfoy with his bare hands to take the latter's wand. *In the film versions of , Hermione Granger used the spell to make Mundungus Fletcher's wand fly over to her for her to catch it, which also happened when Harry Potter defeated Tom Riddle during Voldemort's Last Stand, in a similar way to the Summoning Charm. *The Disarming Charm is used, apart from depriving opponents of their wands, to intercept or rebound offensive spells. Usually, this only works with minor to moderate Dark charms, similar to the Shield Charm. The Elder Wand recognised Harry as its true master through the spell connection, and thus strengthened Harry's spell to the point that even Voldemort's Killing Curse got rebounded upon himself. *Outside of cases of Priori Incantatem, the Disarming Charm is only able to intercept major Dark spells like the Killing Curse, similar to Stunning spells and the golden flame spell. Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Harry Potter: The Wand Collection * Notes and references es:Encantamiento desarmador de:Expelliarmus fr:Sortilège de Désarmement fi:Aseistariisuntaloitsu it:Incantesimo di Disarmo pl:Expelliarmus ru:Экспеллиармус pl:Expelliarmus Category:Charms Category:Defence Against the Dark Arts Category:Spells with a light Category:Spells with Incantations of Latin Origin